Simple Light
by BasedOnAStoryline
Summary: It's Andulvar's birthday and Ravenar can't decide what to make him, but with the help of his older brother he's able to come up with perfect present.


Simple Light

"Uncle Saetan?"

Saetan looked up from the paperwork that piled up on his desk. Over the tops of his half-moon glasses, he saw Ravenar standing in the doorway seemingly distressed. Curious, Saetan removed the glasses, setting them down on top of the stack of papers, along with a globelike paperweight to keep them in order. It wasn't very often the child came to him with a problem. Usually Andulvar was more adept at handling his troubles but here he was, standing in the doorway, wringing his hands together nervous.

"What is it?" Saetan asked, moving around the desk as he waved Ravenar into the room. He leaned a hip against the corner of the desk as Ravenar's little wings fluttered him into one of the oversized leather chairs. His eyebrows raised as Ravenar tried to find a comfortable position in the chair and avoid his gaze.

"I need help."

"So I gathered," Saetan smiled at him. "What can I do to help you?"

Ravenar shifted uncomfortably, his cheeks turning red. "It's my Papa's birthday and I don't know what to get him."

'Ah," Saetan said, mentally making a note. The fact that it was Andulvar's birthday had slipped his mind. Or was hidden beneath the mountain of paperwork he'd pushed off until he couldn't afford to waste anymore time. "So you want me to help you decide?"

Ravenar nodded silently. That explained why he hadn't gone to Andulvar.

"Well, what do you have in mind?" Saetan asked, hoping the boy would throw some ideas out because the truth was Andulvar was hard to shop for. He didn't care much for material possessions which always irked Saetan around the holidays. "Just toss out an idea and I'll take you to get it."

Ravenar shrugged. "I don't know. But I don't _want _to buy him anything. I want to make him something."

_Well than, _Saetan thought with a click of his tongue. That certainly didn't help him at all. "What do you think he wants?"

"I _don't know_," Ravenar said exasperatedly. "That's why I'm here, Uncle Saetan."

This was true. Saetan sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face. What would Andulvar possibly want that he didn't already have? That only added to the problem of shopping for the man. He had the funds to do whatever he wanted yet he barely touched them. His new housekeeper used more of his money than he did. Obviously, he must have everything he needs.

"Well," Saetan finally said. "I think he'll like whatever you decide to give him."

"But I don't know what that is," Ravenar complained, his hands in the air.

Saetan smiled sympathetically, feeling a headache begin to pound against his temples."Neither do I, boyo. Draw him a picture."

"I can't draw," he whined.

Saetan clicked his tongue again. "Well then, glue a part of a string to a piece of paper covered in glitter and random misshapen and call it abstract."

"What's misshapen?" Ravenar asked, pushing himself forward in the chair, ready to leave.

"Malformed," Saetan offered. Ravenar blinked. "Twisted."

"Oooh," Ravenar said. He hopped out of the chair and smiled at Saetan boyishly. "Thanks for your help. I might do that."

When he was gone, Saetan looked around the room rapidly for anything that was invaluable that he could give to Andulvar. After a moment he sat back in his chair, his head turned to the ceiling and his eyes closed.

What the hell was he going to do?

***

"What's important to him?" Mephis asked, setting his book aside to focus his attention solely on his half-brother. "You should consider that when you decide what you're getting him."

"I want to _make _him something," Ravenar said, stressing the words irritably.

Vaguely Mephis wondered how many people the boy had gone to so far for ideas. "Well, make sure it comes from your heart. Parents like that." He looked across the table at Peyton who was using various pencils and color sticks to draw a picture. "What are you making him?"

Peyton didn't seem to hear him and if he did, chose to ignore him.

"Peyton!" Mephis said, adding a bit a bite to his voice.

Peyton's head shot up and his hand stopped moving. His eyes were opened wide and he stared at Mephis like he'd never seen him before. "Excuse you," Peyton said, shaking his head. "You didn't have to be rude."

"You didn't answer the first time," Mephis said with a shrug.

"Oh," Peyton set the pencil down and rubbed the back of his neck, no doubt smearing graphite and various different colors onto his skin. "Sorry, what was the question?"

"What are you making Andulvar?" Mephis asked again. He nodded to Ravenar. "He doesn't know what to get him."

"Ah," Peyton grinned and held up his drawing. "I'm drawing him a picture of himself in a dress."

Mephis stared at him for a long, silent moment and then looked at Ravenar who was staring at Peyton through narrowed eyes. His mouth was open slightly but no words came out, until…

"You're stupid," Ravenar said, shaking his head and looking back at Mephis.

Choking back a laugh, Mephis looked at Peyton who was sputtering silently.

"Did you hear what he said to me?" Peyton asked Mephis as if he hadn't been sitting there ten seconds ago when the words had first been said. "Did you?"

"Yes, I did." Mephis remained calm, fighting the smile that wanted to break out on his face. Looking at Ravenar as sternly as he could, he shook his head. "That's not a nice thing to call someone." But when Peyton wasn't paying attention anymore, he winked and smiled.

"Yeah," Peyton agreed sassily, attention back on his drawing. "That's why I'm older than you, anyway."

Mephis let out a breathy chuckle and shook his head. "Highly doubtful." Still smiling, he went back to focus on birthday present ideas. "Anyway, let's think. What did he give you last year?"

"How will that help me decide what to give him?" Ravenar questioned, his little black eyebrows raised.

"You'll see," Mephis assured him. "What did he get you?"

"Woofer," Ravenar said.

_Ah, yes._ Mephis grinned. The puppy that he regretted but didn't have the heart to take from his son. "Well, how would you thank him for that?"

"The same way I did last year?" Ravenar asked, his head tilted to the side.

Mephis shook his head. "No hug. Something bigger, more important."

"Hugs are important."

Mephis laughed. "Okay, let's try this a different way. What is the most important thing in the world to him?" Mephis rapped Ravenar gently on the nose.

During the contemplative silence, Peyton had framed and begun to wrap the drawing in a colorful paper. He struggled and Mephis stepped in to help him. After a minute, Ravenar smiled happily and clapped his hands together. Both Mephis and Peyton looked up at him questioningly, their eyebrows raised.

"When you're done helping Peyton will you help me wrap my present?" Ravenar asked.

Mephis nodded. "It's simple?"

Ravenar nodded.

"Is it easy?"

Ravenar nodded again, his smile widening.

"How big is it going to be?"

"Me sized."

Mephis grinned. "I think I can handle that."

***

"A paper weight?" Andulvar asked as he and Saetan walked from his study to the informal receiving room that they often used as a family gathering room. "Really?"

He turned it over in his hands and the all the colors of the Jewels, from White to Black reflected from it, dancing across the walls like light on water when it caught the sun streaming in through the windows. It was making him a little dizzy. He didn't like feeling off balance. But he grinned and looked at Saetan. "You didn't even buy this. You just took it out of your study, you idiot."

Saetan grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry about that. I forgot today was your birthday. I've been doing paperwork for days."

Andulvar shrugged, still smiling. "Uh huh. Still, you couldn't have gone and bought some useless rock I'll never use? When's your birthday, again? I need to remember if I'm going to go rock shopping for you ahead of time."

"You're hard to shop for!" Saetan protested humorously. "And my birthday was two months ago, thank you."

"Oh shit," Andulvar said, looking taken aback. "Was it really? You're not joking with me right now?"

Saetan shook his head.

"I feel bad." Andulvar looked around the hall and frowned. Then he smiled and pressed the paper weight back into Saetan's hand. "Happy late birthday, SaDiablo."

"How rude," Saetan said looking at his paperweight. "I wasn't aware you were allowed to give presents back on people's birthday."

He looked at Andulvar but he was no longer paying attention to him. Instead he was looking down the hallway, his lips pursed slightly and his eyebrows knit together. Saetan followed his gaze to what looked like it could have been Ravenar if it wasn't wrapped in so much birthday paper. He grinned and shook his head.

"I'll leave you two alone for a minute," he said and retreated into one of the empty rooms nearby.

*Explain this to me later,* he added on a spear thread.

Andulvar nodded and knelt down when Ravenar approached him, fighting not to laugh or grin at the boy. He opened his mouth to speak but no words would form. The second time he tried he was able to collect himself enough to actually speak. "What is this, Ravenar? What are you doing?"

Ravenar smiled widely and opened his arms. "Present!"

Now it was his turn to smile. Removing the paper that covered his head, Andulvar ruffled Ravenar's hair and nodded. "Yeah. You are."


End file.
